Robert Deyes

Review Of The Fifth Chapter Of Signature In The Cell By Stephen Meyer

Synopsis Of The Fourth Chapter Of Nature’s IQ By Balazs Hornyanszky and Istvan Tasi

Synopsis Of The Fourth Chapter Of Signature In The Cell by Stephen Meyer
ISBN: 9780061894206; ISBN10: 0061894206; Imprint: HarperOne

Synopsis Of The Third Chapter Of Nature’s IQ By Balazs Hornyanszky and Istvan Tasi
ISBN 978-0-9817273-0-1

With the chemical composition of DNA sufficiently well established, the world of science appeared poised for a major shake-up in its understanding of heredity.  Still, the road of discovery up until that time had been anything but a ‘walk in the park’.  While important details concerning the components of DNA had been ironed out as early as 1909, several erroneous turns at the beginning of the twentieth century had thrown biologists ‘off piste’ into thinking that protein and not DNA lay at the heart of heredity. Read More ›

(Originally published on the Access Research Network on the 28th Aug, 2008 as  The Organocentric Illusion: The Biological Complexity Underlying Dynamic Systems)

Brian Goodwin died last week at the age of 78

Today much of evolutionary biology has focused on trying to establish how genes may have provided the raw material for natural selection to run its course (Ref 1, pp.1-2). In this genocentric view, inheritance through random mutation and selection is the basis upon which all of life and its ensuing diversity have arisen. Nevertheless several scientists including Open University biologist Brian Goodwin have challenged this view by postulating that organisms are built not only through genetic instruction but also through processes of dynamic organization that act independently of genes (Ref 1, pp.1-8). In his book How The Leopard Changed Its Spots, Goodwin outlines several key examples in nature that support his position. From the elegant concentric and spiral patterns of slime-mould amoebas to the dynamic mode of the mammalian heart and the brain, and finally to the ordering of haphazard ants into efficient, hard working colonies, (Ref 1, pp.43-76) Goodwin comes to the conclusion that in these systems, biological complexity has arisen through the ordering of dynamic systems independently of the action of genes. Experiments on the bacterial flagellum are yet another of his notable examples. Read More ›

Synopsis Of The Second Chapter Of Nature’s IQ By Balazs Hornyanszky and Istvan Tasi
ISBN 978-0-9817273-0-1

Synopsis Of The First Chapter Of Nature’s IQ By Balazs Hornyanszky and Istvan Tasi
ISBN 978-0-9817273-0-1

Synopsis Of The Second Chapter Of  Signature In The Cell by Stephen Meyer

ISBN: 9780061894206; ISBN10: 0061894206; HarperOne

When the 19^th century chemist Friedrich Wohler synthesized urea in the lab using simple chemistry, he set in motion the ball that would ultimately knock down the then-pervasive ‘Vitalistic’ view of biology.  Life’s chemistry, rather than being bound by immaterial ‘vital forces’ could indeed by artificially made.  While Charles Darwin offered little insight on how life originated, several key scientists would later jump on Wohler’s ‘Eureka’-style discovery through public proclamations of their own ‘origin of life’ theories.  The ensuing materialist view was espoused by the likes of Ernst Haeckel and Rudolf Virchow who built their own theoretical suppositions on Wohler’s triumph.  Meyer summed up the logic of the day

“If organic matter could be formed in the laboratory by combining two inorganic chemical compounds then perhaps organic matter could have formed the same way in nature in the distant past” (p.40)

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Synopsis Of The First Chapter Of  Signature In The Cell by Stephen Meyer

ISBN: 9780061894206; ISBN10: 0061894206; Imprint: HarperCollins

In August of 2004, philosopher Stephen Meyer published an article in the Proceedings Of The Biological Society Of Washington.  The article raised media interest and outrage because it was the first to “advance the theory of intelligent design” in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.  The editor Richard Sternberg lost his position as a result of the ensuing debacle.

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The summer of 2000 promised to be very exciting for ornithologists and paleontologists alike as they flew into Beijing for the fifth quadrennial meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution (Ref 1). The setting was most appropriate given the richness of fossils that have been unearthed in Chinese soil. The central theme of the meeting lay in trying to resolve the question of whether birds had really evolved from dinosaurs (Ref 1). However, rather than a harmonious discussion with the constructive disagreement that one might expect from any scientific ‘get-together’ aimed at resolving discrepancies in data, the meeting did nothing but expose an underlying discord (Ref 1). Read More ›

The word ‘compaction’ is one that in my mind conjures up images of vacations long-passed when I would cram as many clothes as I could into the smallest suitcases I could find. Such a task has become even more irksome in recent years with the hefty restrictions in place that limit the amount of luggage we can now take onto airplanes. But in at least one context- that of DNA biology- compaction refers to something much more exquisite and desirable.

A Nature review that begins with the pronouncement that an experiment “has quashed” major objections to the RNA world of prebiotic origins (Ref 1) is bound to raise a few eye-brows.  It is a bold pronouncement indeed and one that must be accompanied by a water-tight set of evidences.  In his review of the work of John Sutherland and others at the University of Manchester, science writer Richard Van Noorden promised just that by declaring to his readers that these same scientists had achieved the ‘never-before-performed’ feat of making a ribonucleotide- one of the components of RNA- in the lab (Ref 1).  Key to the success of the experiment was the presence of a phosphate group that, in addition to serving as one of the final reactants in the ribonucleotide synthesis process, also functioned as a catalyst earlier on in the reaction (Refs 1-3).  This result was the culmination of twelve long years of laboratory-based research during which simple molecules had been shown to be the “unwitting choreographers” of ribonucleotide synthesis (Ref 1).

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On this episode of ID the Future, Anika Smith interviews writer Robert Deyes on The New Spontaneous Generationists, who argue that “matter and energy somehow self-originated into complex forms without outside intelligence.” While we may have moved beyond expecting rats to materialize from garbage heaps and maggots from decaying meat, materialists today are trying to simulate the origin of first life without intelligent agency — and they’re failing. Listen in to learn why, and read Deyes’ article at ARN’s ID Report for more.